Safe



C. F. KLOSS SAFE Filed Jan. 29 1925 w i r:

Patented Aug. 2,1927.

UNITED STATES g M 1, 31,3 1 'PATENTIOFFICBf CHARLES r. KLOSS, on NEWHAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

SAFE.

Application filed January This invention relates tosates and moreespecially to that class of sates which, are

safes, however, require a relatively thick layer of packing or heatinsulatingmaterial between the inner and outer walls, and, thereformtheoveralldimcnsions of the safe are relatively large compared to t to bepreserved. That is, while the exterior dimensions of the safe may; berelatively large, theinterior will present a relatively small space torthe protection of material. This is becoming an especially greatdisad,vantageat the present time, due, to the fact that floor space is oftenvery valuable in large otficebuildings, and the protection oi 7 papersand records of various kinds is be? the sale being of less importance.

rer-itio t the s coming" more and more necessary. The prob? lem ofstoring such records is assuming great importance, and a saving of aconsiderable part of this space between the walls of the twocompartments of the safe is of great 'ad- I vantage, especially asregards the width and depth of thesafe, which are the two dimen sionswhich define the amount of floor space required, the space at the topand It is also well known that a la n part of thecost of safe is thecost of ti sporting and installing it. due to i arge size and wei ht,andit the size of he sate can be, i seal without a corresi io-ndingdecrease in its capaci and its weight lessened, the 7 n to the consumerwill be on s cerahly lessened, due to the saving in transportation andinstallation charg a l nrtlier, as it is becoming nccess y preservegreat quantit es ot records and documents, the cost of sate protectionfor such i'nateriai presents I and it is, therefore, of great advantageto produce a safe which will give ample protecae avail able space forthe reception or the 'inaterial bottom; of,

a serious problem,

'29, 1925. Serial Nb. 5,627.

tion to the material stored therein, but which will be relatively cheapto manufacture,

Moreover, one of the weak points of a safeisusually that part of thedoor in which the locking mechanism is housed, for while the remainderof the door may be packed with heatinsulating material, it is, ofcourse, not possible to so insulate that part of the door which containsthe locking mechanism, and as a result, the safe is usually especiallyvulnerable to heat at this poin I One object of my invention, therefore,is to provide a sale which will give. material stored therein ampleprotection against heat,

but which will, at the same time, occupy a 'elatively small amount offloorspace as compared to the storage capacity for material to beprotected 7 That is to say, the space between the. inner and outer wallsof the sale, particularly at the four sides thereof,

will be reduced to a minimum.

,Jinother ob act of my invention isthe vprovision of a safe of thischaracter, which will be ot" relatively light weight when transported,so that it may be shipped and installed at a relatively low cost.

.11 further object of my invention is the provision of a safe of thischaracter, which while iosscssing 'suiiicient strength to withstand theshocks to which such devices may besubjected, and while capable ofgiving the contents ample protection against heat, may be manufacturedat a relatively small cost.

'- A still further object of my invention is the'provision of a Safe,wherein that part oil-.119 door in which the locking mechanism iscontained, will be given substant ally the same heat insulatingproperties as the rest oi the safe. I

- hlore specifically, my invention contemplates the provision of a safecon'iprising inner and outer compartments having spaced walls, the spacebeta normally occupied by air and the mounting, at the bottom ofthesa'fe, of reservoirs containing a vaporizing fluid, for example, andproviding auxiliary reservoirs in thet'orm of tubes located againsttheexterior side walls of the sale, thesetubes also being tilled withthe vaporizing fluid and in connnunication with the main reser-v voirs.

- I also contemplate the placing of a recep taclecontaining such a fluidin the door of "the safe and providing communication be tween thisreservoir and that part of the eon said walls being,

such as water,

' sists in the novel features and combination of parts to be hereinafterdescribed and and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front elevational view of a safe, embodying my invention,with the door in open position;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of the safe shown in Fig. 1, withsome of the parts broken away to expose the interior;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on line 3 Fig. 1;

Fig. 1 is a transverse sectional view on line H of Fig. 3; r

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 6 is a view of-a modified form of safe door;

Fig. 7 is sectional view on line 77 of Fig. 6; and

Fig. 8 is a detail view on line 88 of Fig. 4, showing the valvestructureused.

The preferred form of my invention which I have selected to illustrateand describe, comprises a safe 10, provided with a hinged door 11 andsuitable supports 12, although it will be understood that the details ofthe safe may be varied within wide limits within the scope of myinvention.

The body of the safe comprises inner and outer compartments 13 and 1 1,as clearly shown in Fig. 4. The inner compartment will preferablycomprise a top, bottom, and three sides or walls, the front being leftopen for the reception of material, such as docu-' ments, papers, etc.,and as will be obvious, is closed by the door 11.

The outer compartment 1% will-consist of a top and three sides, whichwill be suitably spaced as shown in Fig. i, from the corresponding wallsof the inner compartment. Suitable structure (not shown) may be providedto, firmly brace the two compartments from each other so as to make astrong and rigid safe. The bottom 15 of the outer compartment ispreferably removable and is connected to the remainder of the structureby such fastening devices as screws, bolts, or the like (not shown), thesupports 12 being se cured to this bottom member.

For convenience, I have shown the bottom of the safe divided into threecompartments, as illustrated in Fig. 3, the compartments being separatedby the diverging members 16, 17 and 18 of a grid secured to the safestructure. This grid assists in bracing the walls of the safe and alsoprovides means for securing the bottom15 to the rest of the structure.The number of compar ments may, of course, be varied if desired.

Within these three compartments in the bottom of the safe are placedtanks or reservoirs 19, 20 and 21, which reservoirs will correspond incrosssectional shape to the shape of the compartments. The reservoirsare entirely closed with the exception that suitable plugs or the like:22, may be arranged so that they may be filled with water or some othersuitable vaporizing liquid. As shown in Fig. 3, the reservoirs may havea considerable depth so that a relatively large quantity of this liquidmay be stored therein. The space provided at this point between thebottom of the inner compartment and the bottom 15 of the safe, may berelatively large as compared to the space arranged between the sidewalls of the structure, as no additional floor space is occupied byreason of the former dimensions being relatively large, while the sameis not true of the space between the side walls.

The space between the side walls of the safe is entirely occupied byair, with the exception that flat relatively shallow tubes 2%, and 26lead upwardly from the reservoirs and are located within this space.

These tubes are preferably located adjacent the exterior wall of thesafe so that they will be immediately affected by heat without the safe.While I have shown one of the tubes leading from each of the reservoirsand disposed within each of the three side walls of the safe. it will,of course, be run derstood that the number may be varied as desired.

The tubes communicate with the reservoirs through valves 27, preferablyarranged at the lower ends of the tubes, these valves being so arranged,as will be explained hereinafter, that while they are, normally closedthey will be opened if steam is generated within the lower reservoirsand also will be opened if the safe falls upon its side or turns upsidedown. 7

Similar valves 28 are arranged at the upper ends of the tubes and inthis way, the tu es will normally be kept closed, so that there will beno evaporation of the water therein or in the reservoirs 19, 20 and 21.i

The air spaces at the three sides of the safe, and at the top, willpreferably be in free communicationwith each other, so that any steam orvapor generated in any of the tubes 24, 25 and 26, or in any of thetanks communicating with these tubes, will pass into this air space andentirely surround the contents of the safe with the exception of thefront or door and the bottom. The bottom is, of course, protected by thereservoirs themselves and the door is separately protected, as will beexplained hereinafter. Suitable openings 30 may be arranged about thedoor jainb to provide for the escape of the steam emitted from thetubes.

The valves-27 each consists of a chamber or the like 31, provided withinlet and outlet ports 32 and 33, controlled by a ball valveg l. Theport 32 is in communication with :its

corresponding reservoir by means of a duct 35, while the port 33communicates with the corresponding vertically extending through theopening 86. Small bleed open ings or bypasses 37 and 38 lead aroundtheport 33, so as to provide restrictedcommunication between the chamber 31and the correspondingtube through the port 36 at all times, it beingunderstood that these bypasses are not controlled by the ball valve 34c."The action of this valve is asfollows: hen the safe isin its normalposition and is not subjected to heat, the valve 34 remains I in theposition shown in Fig. 8, wherein the port '32 is closed and theevaporation of the liquid in the reservoirs is prevented. It vapor isgenerated in the reservo1rs,how-

ever, the pressure will cause the ball valve to be lifted and vapor willescape around this valve through the port 33 and the opening 36 into thecorresponding tube. It, how-. ever, the sate falls upon its side orturns up side down, the ball valve will be dislodged b 'ravit and willcover the )ort'32 so as y a y l 7 to prevent a rapid escape of theliquid in the reservoirs. A slow drainage of this liquid into the tubeswill, however, take place through the bypasses 37 and 38, so that thetubes will be supplied with the vaporizing liquid at all times. i I

The valves 28 at the up oer end of the tubes, are constructed similarlyto the valves 27. "In this instance, the duct communicates with theliquid in the tube, and the port 36 opens into the air space between thewalls of the safe. ,The action of the valve is substantially the same ashereto-fore explained, the valve preventing evaporation from the tubeswhen the safe '15 in normal position, but'allowing a slow drainage of,

the liquidtrom the tubes when the safe is i turned from its normalposition.

As shown in Fig. 2', the door 11. ol the sale is provided with a waterreservoir l0, which occupies substantially the entire area of the doorwith the exception of the portion ll adjacent thei'ree'edge in which thelock} ing mechanism is located. A tube 42 leads downwardly into thiscompartment from the top. of the reservoir so that vapor generatedwithin the reservoir will be carried to that )art of the door withinwhich the lockin C3 mechanism is housed, so as toprovide heat insulationat this point. Asshown in Fig. 5, the tube 4-2 is connected w1th thereservoir l0 by a valve 43, constructed similarly to the valve 27.

When, as shown in Fig. 6, the locking mechanism covers substantially theentire area of the door, a reservoir 44 harry be placed in front ofthe'lock structure, the reservoir covering the entire area or the tubether protection.

door. This reservoir is in communication wlth the lock compartment 45,through the valve 46, which is also similar tothe valve 27, so that anyvapor generated in the reser voir it is communicated to thiscompartment. The escape of the vapor from the door will take placethrough the openings provided for the lockbolts, although, of

course, additional vent openings may be provided, it desired.

The operation'o't my device is as follows: If the safe is subjected toheat at the bot tom thereof, the large reservoirs 19, or

2l'will be attacked thereby-and as soon as the heat gains suliicientintensity steam or vapor will be generated in these reservoirs, and willpass upwardly through the valves 27 to the auxiliary reservoirs or tubes:24, and 26 and thence into the air space which surrounds the storagecompartment o1 the safe, soas to protect the material stored therein.If, however, extreme heat happens to be directed against one of thesides of the sate, for example, againstthe back instead of against thebottom, the auxiliary reserthis reservoir is comparatively flat andprefverably located ad acent the outer wall of the safe, a hot lire,although of relatively short duration will generate vapor within thetubeon account of the comparatively small volume of liquid therein, andthis vapor will pass outward]; through the valve 28 to protect thecontents of the safe. If such a fire is of suliicient duration toentirely vaporize the liquid within the tube 25, the reservoir 20 willbe affected by that time and the liquid therein will be vaporizedtoafiord tur- It will be seen, therefore, that I have provided auxiliaryreservoirs in the structure of the tubes which will become activetoprotect the contents of the safe during a sudden intense application of'voir 25 will be immediately attached. As.

heat, and main reservoirs upon which these auxiliary reservoirs maydraw, provided the fire is of sullicient duration.

i a'cture, as no packing material will be re quired.v Moreover, it willbe much lighter iirwelght than mostqsates muse at the present time, forin installing the safe the various reservoirs are not filled with liquiduntil the safe is installed. For this purpose,

the safe maybe turned upon its side, the

bottoni15 removed and the reservoirs with the attached tubes may bewithdrawn, filled with water and then replaced so that during IIushipment and handling of the safe, the weight of the liquid within thereservoirs will not have to be contended with. The bottom is thenreplaced and secured and the safe is turned to upright position.

I'Vhile' I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of myinvention, it will be obvious that it is not to be limited to thedetails shown but is capable of modification and variation within thespirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

I'Vhat- I claim is:

1. Asate having a body portion, provided with a storage compartmentsurrounded in part by nollow walls, a reservoir located adjacent thebottom portion of the safe below said compartment and adapted to containa vaporizing liquid, a tube mounted in the hollow of the walls andadapted to contain a vaporizing liquid, said tube being in communication with said reservoir. 1 I

2. A safe having a body portion, provided with a storage compartmentsurround d in part by hollow walls, a reservoir located adjacent thebottom portion of the safe below said compartment and adapted to containa vaporizing liquio, a tube mounted in the hollow oi the walls andadapted to contain a vaporizing liquid, said tube being in communication with said reservoir, and arranged to discharge vaporgenerated there in into the hollow wall of the safe.

A safe structure provided with a storage compartment and a hollow-wallupon each side and the'back thereof, a relatively shallow-tube locatedin the hollow of each of said walls adjacent the exterior of the same,said tubes being adapted to contain a vaporizing fluid and tocommunicate with the hollow of the wall within which they are located,and communicating at their lower ends with reservoirs containing avaporizing liquid.

partment. an auxiliary reservoir within said walls and adapted tocontain a vaporizing liquid to discharge vapor into the space betweensaid walls upon the application of heat, and a main reservoir with whichsaid auxiliary reservoir communicates to supply said auxiliary reservoirwith vapor when the applied heat is of long duration.

6. In a fire proof safe, a storage compartment, spaced walls at the sideof said compartment, an auxiliary reservoir located between said wallsand adapted to contain a vaporizing liquid to initially supplyvapor tothe space between the walls when the safe is subjected to heat, and amain liquid supply to furnish such vapor during a continued applicationof heat.

7. In a fire proof safe, a storage compartment, spaced walls at the sidethereof, means between said walls to contain a relatively small supplyof a vaporizing liquid adapted to be quickly vaporized and discharged between said walls upon the application of heat to the safe, a reservoircontaining a larger supply of a vaporizing liquid, said means belng incommunication with said reservoir whereby the liquid in the latter isvaporized, and discharged upon a continued application of heat to thesafe.

8. In a fire proof safe, a storage compartnent, spaced walls at the sideof said compartment, a relatively flat tube extending vertically of thesafe and positioned against the outer of said walls, said tube beingadapted to contain a vaporizing liquid and the interior of which is incommuni ation with said reservoir, said tube extending up wardly intothe space between the alls of the safe and adapted to dischargegenerated vapor therein.

10. In a safe construction, a storage compartment surrounded upon threesides and at the top by spaced walls, the spaces at the said sides andthe top oi the safe being in communication with each other, a reservoircontaining a vaporizing liquid mounted in the lower part of the safe,and a tube extending from said reservoir upwardly into the space betweensaid walls and adapted to discharge vapor within said spa e when thesafe is subjected to heat.

' 11. A fireproof safe provided with a storage compartment, a swingingdoor for closing said compartmentand giving access thereto, lockingmechanism within said door,

inn

a reservoir within the door for containing a vaporizing liquid, andmeans affording communication between said reservoir and the lockingmechanism of the safe, whereby vapor is conducted to the latter when thesafe door is subjected'to heat,

12. In a fire proof safe, a storage compartment. a door forclosino: andgiving access to said compartment, locking mechanism within the door, areservoir within the door and

